Quebec promises new law to protect journalists' sources

The commission presided over by Justice Jacques Chamberland was created last year after revelations surfaced that Quebec's main police forces had been spying on journalists.Frame grab from TV/John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

The Quebec government is promising to create a new law to better protect journalists’ sources — as well as the documents and information they collect — following recommendations of a provincial inquiry into police spying on reporters.

The inquiry is also urging the province to adopt new regulations to ensure police can work independently of elected officials, following reports of possible political interference.

These were the two key recommendations issued Thursday from the final report of the Chamberland Commission, which was created last year after revelations surfaced that Quebec’s main police forces had been spying on journalists in the course of their investigations, based in part on the belief officers were leaking information to the media.

Hours after the report was filed, Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée and Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux promised the recommendations would be carried out.

Quebec’s federation of journalists hailed the report as a victory, saying it represented the second major step toward the protection of journalistic sources in the past two months.

In October, the federal government passed the Journalistic Sources Protection Act, which amended the Criminal Code to make it harder for police to obtain information regarding journalists’ sources.

While calling for increased protection, the 217-page provincial report found police were within their rights in regards to the investigations that spurred the inquiry.

The commissioners found the investigations centred on police officers — not journalists — and that judges were justified in granting warrants allowing the surveillance of journalists.

Critics had accused justices of the peace of “rubber-stamping” police requests for warrants to track journalists’ cellphone records.

“The investigations were conducted in compliance with the legislative framework,” the report reads.

“Based on the evidence, the choice of investigative methods was defendable, and, in all cases, the documents produced in support of the judicial authorizations explained the connection between the alleged offence against the police officers targeted by the investigation and the journalists targeted by the method.”

However, the commissioners noted that supervision of investigators’ work was lacking, and “the evidence revealed a certain lack of sensitivity, knowledge and precaution from the investigators with regard to personal life issues.”

The commission found that allegations of political intervention in the launching of police investigations were unfounded. But it singled out as problematic cases in which a mayor or minister called the chief of police — an allusion to former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre.

Coderre testified during the hearings he was furious that personal information, including traffic violations, had been leaked to the media three times, and in 2014 contacted police chief Marc Parent to complain.

“A call from a mayor or minister to a chief of police undoubtedly gets special attention,” the report states. “The desire expressed or question asked can easily be perceived as an order.”

The commission called for a Journalistic Material and Sources Protection Act that would help in gathering all elements of a regime of immunity in one place.

“With regard to testifying, the proposed rule is simple: Journalists have the right to remain silent. They are not required to answer questions and respond to requests for documents collected as part of their journalistic duties,” the report reads.

The rule would cover the confidentiality of sources and all documents and information, as well as that of individuals who collaborate with journalists.

However, immunity stops if it’s judged there is no other way to obtain the evidence. The goal is “to avoid situations where maintaining the immunity would result in a real injustice.”

The second recommendation suggests legislative measures on the relationship between elected officials and police forces, including recognizing the principle of police independence in criminal investigations.

“Beyond its symbolic value, this recognition would … enable the chief of a police force to refuse to respond to a request from an elected official if he considers it would amount to an interference.”

The law would specify that requests from elected officials must go through the highest-ranking government official.

Other recommendations:

Require police forces to draft an investigation plan approved by their chief for any investigation involving a journalist or other person exercising a particular function.

Require police forces to improve first-level supervision for all investigators.

Require officers to get more training in this role.

Provide judges handling an application for judicial authorization with clear explanations of the intrusive nature of the investigation.

Over the course of 34 days of hearings held last spring, 74 witnesses were heard and more than 300 documents submitted as evidence.

Montreal police had obtained two dozen court warrants to track La Presse journalist Patrick Lagacé’s smartphone calls, texts and location. Soon after that story broke, it was revealed Sûreté du Québec officers had obtained phone records of six other reporters in a separate investigation into leaks to the news media years earlier.

The commission’s mandate was to cover police activities as they pertain to journalists since May 22, 2010, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that reporters do not enjoy a constitutional right to shield the identity of their sources during police investigations.

The commission was also mandated to make recommendations on best practices to ensure reporters’ privilege in protecting journalistic sources.

During the hearings, which lasted until June, Quebec’s journalistic federation charged that police forces organized a “witch hunt” to find which sources had been speaking to reporters, while the SQ maintained great care was taken by its officers to protect the identity of sources.

This month, Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet was removed from his duties after a damning report found numerous irregularities within the force’s internal affairs division. SQ director Martin Prud’homme has been called to act as interim administrator of the Montreal force over the next year.

The $9-million commission began in April and was presided over by Justice Jacques Chamberland of the Quebec Court of Appeal. He was assisted by two commissioners: veteran media lawyer Guylaine Bachand and Alexandre Matte, a former Quebec City police chief.

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